Pharyngula

Posted by: rawnaeris | November 3, 2009 10:53 AM

Darn, I won't be able to make it, San Antone is rather a bit of a drive for a one-day deal. I certainly hope it makes the news though. We are needing some good press.

Posted by: Oni | November 3, 2009 11:06 AM

dammit, if i didnt have an essay to write for class that weekend, i'd be all over that.

Posted by: IaMoL | November 3, 2009 11:26 AM

Whoever designed that page should be shot.
Mid-November is such a brilliant time to hold a convention. I have oodles of spare cash this time of year.

Posted by: Patrick | November 3, 2009 11:45 AM

1998 called - they want their web designer back.

All that's missing is a couple of blink and marquee tags and this would have fit in well on geocities. Are there any freethinking web designers with a sense of taste that could modernize the website?

Posted by: Gruesome Rob | November 3, 2009 11:53 AM

Austin and I'd go in a heartbeat. No way I can justify San Antonio.

Posted by: NewEnglandBob | November 3, 2009 1:01 PM

Whoever designed that page should be shot.

Nice going. You just gave Texans another cause to dispense frontier justice. Even from the east coast, I can hear posses being rounded up there.

He meant the sedation kind of shot, I'm sure.

Posted by: John Bode | November 3, 2009 1:11 PM

Austin and I'd go in a heartbeat. No way I can justify San Antonio.

Aw, SA isn't so bad. Just remember to drive like a total moron, because that's what everyone expects and can deal with. If you drive like you know what you're doing, everyone else freaks out and you wind up with a 30-car pileup.

As for me, the last thing I want to do is spend an afternoon with a bunch of freaks like myself.

Posted by: Angel | November 3, 2009 1:20 PM

Man, San Antone is a bit of a drive too for just a one day thing. It does sound interesting (in spite of the atrocious website design. Sheesh, can't free thinkers in this state find someone with decent web design skills?). A big turn out would be cool, though I do not know how much it would change the preconceptions in this state. Le sigh.

Posted by: harv | November 3, 2009 1:46 PM

Wow, fifteen minutes from my house. . .but twenty five bucks? And we don't even get one of the four (five?) horsemen? I will bite the bullet anyway and attend. Would really enjoy a lecture by one of the four at UT.

Posted by: Multicellular | November 3, 2009 2:40 PM

Alredy got my tickets. Hard not to attend, the convention is literally 10 miles down the road from my house. The convention is also be not too far from John Hagee's monstrosity of a mega-church so that many atheists nearby will make his head explode.

San Antonio is a big military town so it would be great to see a lot of active duty and fellow retired military attend. Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers founder, and current VP of American Atheists, Kathleen Johnson will be talking so let's get as many MAAFers as we can get attend to cheer her on.

Personally, I'm looking forward to meeting The Non-Prophets crew.

Posted by: IaMoL | November 3, 2009 3:32 PM

Nice going. You just gave Texans another cause to dispense frontier justice. Even from the east coast, I can hear posses being rounded up there.

Naturally - I'm a Texan and I've got just the right gun for the job.;D

****************************************

$25 fee is great but finding decent cheap & safe accommodations in San Antone, that's another story. Fantastic food to be had throughout the city, though. I also have a bone to pick with some of the DFW Church of Free Thought folks... but that's for another time.

Posted by: Paul Mitchell | November 3, 2009 4:21 PM

Thanks for everybody's feedback!

The TFC is successful at getting national and statewide orgs, families and individuals together for networking, communication, education and meeting people. Last year we had a great response, better than expected, and this year it's even better.

We have people coming in from all over the U.S. and Texas to attend this event. We have guests driving 4-8 hours, staying the night Friday, going to the event Saturday, then going home after brunch on Sunday. Many are staying to see the sights or take in 6 Flags, SeaWorld, the Alamo, the Riverwalk etc. If you can't afford to go by yourself, you can always car-pool, and share a room.

This is a great opportunity to go to a convention that's "near you". We don't compete with the national conventions, instead we look to service those people who can't make the national conventions either because of funds, time, family or work obligations. As a result we are smaller, and more modest, and we're growing.

We strongly urge everybody to attend this years event. For anybody waiting on us to come to their city; we can only justify going to those cities in TX where people show up from.

We've been recognized as a "battleground state" when it comes to our education system and secularism in general. Everybody's help has been appreciated greatly.

National organizations like American Atheists, Atheist Alliance International, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Center for Inquiry are sending their top representatives because they see a great value in being a part of a growing movement in one of the largest states in the U.S. We appreciate their being a part of the team!

I've seen some great feedback about our website. Yes, we are looking to improve it all the time. Since we are a young organization, and modest in means, it's going to take time to get it to where we want it. Those of you who have the most critical feedback about the website are more than welcome to help us achieve that endeavor by donating your time, resources or funding.

We cannot achieve success without you.

Sincerely,

Paul Mitchell
President,
Texas Freethought Convention

Posted by: momentofsciencetx | November 3, 2009 5:50 PM

The ICR (institute for creatard research) is having a conference on Nov. 13th and 14th at the First baptist Church, Dallas, Texas. They are actually calling it DAMAND THE EVIDENCE CONFERENCE. They are also having a Q&A session which I am sure most questions will be from those already brainwashed into believeing this garbage. Here is a quote from the ICR page:

“The evolutionary lie is so pointedly antithetical to Christian truth that it would seem unthinkable for evangelical Christians to compromise with evolutionary science in any degree. But during the past century and a half of evolutionary propaganda, evolutionists have had remarkable success in getting evangelicals to meet them halfway. Remarkably, many modern evangelicals…have already been convinced that the Genesis account of creation is not a true historical record. Thus they have not only capitulated to evolutionary doctrine at its starting point, but they have also embraced a view that undermines the authority of Scripture at its starting point.”

—Dr. John MacArthur
from The Battle for the Beginning

Posted by: Russ Painter | November 3, 2009 6:31 PM

Sounds like a set-up boys. We all know that free thought is not looked on kindly in Texas. If you see cowboys gathering outside the event with ropes, be prepared to run.

Posted by: IaMoL | November 3, 2009 7:26 PM

Houston, San An, Dallas, Austin, all the big cities are pretty nice.

Who are you kidding - Houston and DFW are superficial cosmopolitan wanna-bes. There is so much woo in Dallas (and don't get me started on Ft Worth and the plethora of woo tainted suburbs) you can't throw a stone without hitting a Southern Baptist, Methodist, Church o' Christ or Catholic - odds are it'll be a Baptist; if they're a transplanted Yankee - Catholic, most likely.

Art and Culture are paraded out by bidnessmen & their big-haired wives doing their best Charley the Tuna imitation amongst the artistes (whose feyness offends their masculinity and rather dubious morality) while determining personal hierarchy by comparing who's got the best seats at the new billion-dollared Jerry World (The Cowboys' new Stadium for all you who aren't American)- it's the "who's is bigger" dressed up in tuxedos paired with expensive cowboy boots and Neiman Marcus outfitted spouses with more money and pretension than taste and God supplied it all. Claiming agnosticism, much less atheism, will get you ostracized in Dallas or Houston society unless you're one of the artistes, who are acceptable as non-theists for being eccentric and othered.
(Ask membership #'s for NTCFT - not even a % of a %)

Posted by: AlexDenton | November 3, 2009 9:47 PM

29

While i'll concede that Dallas may be a little woo-heavy (i've never really been, except for passing through), your characterization of Houston is just wrong. Yea, we've got the bullshit megachurches, and some whackjobs, but it's the 4th biggest city in the country, you're gonna have a "diverse" population. We've also got an excellent medical system, fun culture and cuisine, museums, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm honest about my atheism with anyone who asks, and besides a few "you're an atheist?" comments, which speaks to the population of my town and not the millions of people in Houston, people are totally fine with it. It's not like i'm ostracized or some other bizarre thing, it's accepted. And honestly who gives a fuck if there's a lot of churches? Oh noez, people go to church around here, mah city is a craphole.

Posted by: AlexDenton | November 3, 2009 10:13 PM

I don't exactly travel in any circles, as you put it. I just live in a metro-area suburb, and have for most my life. Apparently our experiences ARE vastly different, and you would think mine would be even worse due to the concentrated woo and such that permeates the suburbs, but whaddya know? I just know from my experiences that Houston is a relatively nice place to live, lack of (good) music culture not withstanding. Your experiences are different, and i'm sorry that you've had such. Maybe it's just the business and art world?

Posted by: Sylvie | November 3, 2009 11:03 PM

Texas is one of the country's best birding destinations.

Posted by: Aquaria | November 4, 2009 12:33 AM

Sigh... This shindig is in my neck of the woods, but I have to work that day. Sigh... Someday, those people who have worked for the USPS since the Eisenhower administration are gonna die off, and I'll finally have enough seniority to get a weekends off job.

Oh, that was beautiful. That definitely sounds like the Dallas I know (well, Highland Park, for sure).

Hey... I used to live in Highland Park, and I never had big hair or went to a Cowboys game! Best things about living in HP, at least in 1982-83:

The late great Strictly Tabu jazz club.
Seeing Rocky Horror Picture at the HP Village theater.

And that HP cop I dated for a while. The things he could do with his nightstick....

Oh. Sorry. Got lost in some great memories for a minute there.

Posted by: Zachary Moore | November 4, 2009 8:49 AM

I'm shamed to say i'm not a part of any such organization in my area/city, mostly out of ignorance. I really need to look into what's around.

And therein lies the purpose of the TFC. See y'all there!

Best,

-Z

Posted by: Paul | November 4, 2009 11:26 AM

For anybody looking for groups, individuals, families or organizations to meet, join or hook up with, the Texas Freethought Convention is a great place for that.

This is the second year of the TFC, and it's getting bigger and better.

To date, we've been very open about our presence and activities, and we have NEVER once recieved any threats or hostile reactions here in TX. In fact, we have a few cowboys around here, and a few of them are Atheist.

If you can't drive or don't want to, then you can carpool and even share a room here in town. There are plenty of low cost hotels in the area.

The big picture is all about COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY. Community, between organizations, individuals, families, students, etc.

All "employees" of the TFC are VOLUNTEERS. They all have dedicated their time, energy and resouces to this annual event in their spare time.

We'll see everybody there!

-Paul